The EU on Wednesday launches its Space Strategy, a plan to promote everyday uses for the Galileo and Copernicus programs that send observational and navigational data back to Earth from satellites in orbit.

The European Commissioner for the Internal Market Elżbieta Bieńkowska and Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič have been peering into the cosmos and are behind the liftoff for the strategy, taking place at an igloo-like Space Expo tent in the center of Brussels.

As Šefčovič said, “dreaming is not enough.” The EU must now reach for the stars. Here are five ways it aims to do just that.

1. No mission to Mars (yet)

Plans for deep space exploration are being left to the Paris-based European Space Agency, but Šefčovič and Bieńkowska want to find practical applications for the data already flowing from Europe’s satellite systems. They want to push for new launchers that can get extra loads into orbit, from where a future mission to the Red Planet could take off. The Galileo and Copernicus systems are already assisting work in energy, transport and tech, it’s just most of us don’t know it. “Power grids, smart grids and banks need highly synchronized data,” said Bieńkowska. “Traffic management and internet in trains and planes. All these benefits will come soon from our satellites.” She says 80 percent of Europeans have no idea how important data from the cosmos is.

2. It’s not just about space

Satellite navigational data is much more precise than GPS, Bieńkowska said, helping boost transport systems reliant on accurate weather, mapping and scheduling information. There are 14 Galileo satellites up in orbit, with the plan to increase that to 30 by 202o. At present, the signal is sometimes replaced by GPS as coverage drops out, giving Galileo the right frequency to send data back to Earth but not yet enough coverage for an uninterrupted service. Connected cars will be one of the key beneficiaries for more in-depth and reliable mapping, but Šefčovič says 6 percent of EU GDP is dependent on location services generally. “Space matters for Europe,” he declared, with the Space Strategy seeking to find ways for returns from a €12 billion investment in the sector so far.

3. Getting autonomous access

“We need to guarantee that we have autonomous access to space,” said Šefčovič, citing defense as one of the key drivers behind the EU’s push into orbit. The next giant leap in technology will be building cheaper and re-usable launchers, so that Europe doesn’t have to rely on paying other countries tens of millions of euros for each takeoff. “There is no autonomy without our own launchers,” Šefčovič said. This builds to a new, perhaps more collegiate space race, with Bieńkowska keen to note the rise of China and India in competition for access to the stars. Four new satellites will be launched before the end of the year from French Guiana to boost the Galileo system, she said.

4. Boosting research is key

Bieńkowska said the EU is speaking with hundreds of small companies looking to invent the next big breakthrough, whether reusable launchers or new apps to funnel data back for everyday uses. “We want to create an eco-system for space startups and we’ll build a fund for them,” Bieńkowska said. That could eventually increase to more than a billion euros, but it’s money invested rather than wasted.For every one euro that goes into the industry, seven come back in jobs and growth, she said.

5. Big (space) data will help fight climate change

Of the 50 variables needed to observe climate change in action, 26 of them can only be measured from space, the Commission said. “One of the big issues in Paris [at the climate change summit] was how we would monitor the deal,” Šefčovič said. “Currently, that system depends on paperwork, but at the same time we very strongly believe that we can get even more precise data from satellites.” This will help climate watchers check sea levels and track weather systems. Copernicus already observes details like ground humidity for agriculture and even plots where new wind farms should built to best benefit from weather. The U.S. government uses it to track hurricanes.